Tales Of Nevaeh: The Trilogy and Backstory of the Epic Sci-Fi Fantasy Series Tales Of Nevaeh: (The 4 Book Bundled Box Set)

by David Wind

  A warning within awakened Areenna—a light pressure at the center of her forehead. Her last memory of being on the parapet surfaced. She became aware of a presence, opened her eyes and blinked twice.

  Sitting in the chair across from her, and staring at her was Queen Enna. “Last night was strange. I had many dreams. One was of a young girl standing on the parapet above my chambers fighting a storm. With her was another woman of power. There were two aoutems as well, a treygone with you and a kraal in the stables. Only it wasn’t a woman of power with you, was it Areenna?”

  “I—”

  “Be careful what you next say, Child.”

  Areenna moistened her sleep-dried lips with the tip of her tongue. She shook her head, never losing eye contact with the Queen. “I would not lie. You dreamed true.”

  “How is this possible? How can Mikaal have power?”

  Areenna sat up. Behind Enna, Gaalrie rested on the stone sill of the window, watching them both. She realized Mikaal must have brought her aoutem to the chamber when he carried her here last night. “Because he is the son of Roth.”

  “And the son of my daughter as well. But that is no explanation.”

  “What more can there be? You know who Roth is, do you not?”

  “I do,” Enna said in a low voice. “He came to us from the past, as if he were an ‘Old One’. He brought us peace and he showed us how to live together and to protect ourselves from them. But it explains nothing.”

  “You will have to trust me and trust Mikaal. Enaid will explain it to you.”

  Her shoulders stiffened and she shook her head once, sharply. “No, you will explain it to me. I am far too old to have use for patience.”

  Areenna took a deep breath and sought the right words, but could not find them. “Can you join with me?”

  Enna reached out and grasped both of Areenna’s hands. Gripping them tightly, she nodded. An instant later they were connected. Find what you seek.

  Their eyes locked on each other’s, their hands gripped tightly. They stayed together for several long minutes before Enna released Areenna, leaned back and took two long and deep breaths.

  A few seconds later, Enna said, “So much for someone so young. It seems impossible.”

  “Yet it is fact,” Areenna responded.

  “He survived the Island… Call Mikaal to us.”

  She sent the silent call to Mikaal, who responded quickly. She sensed his surprise but cut the question off. “He is on the way.”

  “There is much danger in this,” Enna whispered.

  “Of which we are all too aware.”

  “How long has he… been with power?”

  “He discovered it during his thirteenth year, but told no one, not even Enaid or Roth.”

  Enna nodded. “It must have been very hard for him, to be so alone. His abilities?”

  “He has all of mine, all the gifts I was given as well, except for those only a woman can hold. Healing is one such. On the Island, he received others. He has the ability to see ahead for a few seconds at a time.” Areenna paused and shook her head. “It is a gift I cannot understand.”

  “It is difficult. I only knew one woman with such an ability. She tried to pass it to me, but could not. Yet, she taught me its control, should I find it alive within me in the future—” Enna fell silent, her eyes went distant and her breathing all but stopped.

  Areenna reached out and grasped her shoulder. “Enna,” she called softly, shaking the queen’s shoulder gently.

  The queen blinked, twice. “I… I am sorry. I just realized why she trained me in a power I could never use. She saw this,” Enna finished, her voice a bare whisper in Areenna’s ears.

  “Saw this?”

  Enna looked down at her hands. “Of course,” she said almost to herself. “She knew this would happen. She saw it with her ability and knew I would have to train Mikaal. I… I saw this as well but did not know it. He is the complement to your power.”

  “I—” Areenna stopped herself. Enna’s words called up what Enaid had told her when she and Mikaal had left for the Island.

  Before she could ask more, Mikaal entered the bedchamber. Outside, the first light of day was breaking in the east. “What’s wrong?” he asked, looking from Areenna to his grandmother.

  “You, obviously,” Queen Enna said.

  “I—”

  “Say nothing until I’m finished. Did you think I would not discover your powers?”

  Mikaal held his grandmother’s stare for several seconds before shaking his head.

  “Never before has this happened—a man with a woman’s power.” How long did you think you could hide this from me? she asked, using thought instead of words.

  Mikaal held her stare. I did not know how you would take it. If anyone learns of this…

  “It will go badly for you, both of you!” she said. “Areenna has told me you have command of many abilities. And you have the foreseeing as well.”

  Mikaal nodded. “But it seems to come only a bare instant before something is to happen.”

  “Of course it does,” Enna said. Then she glanced at Areenna for a moment before saying, “Let Areenna prepare for the day ahead.” She turned to her. “Meet us for the morning meal as soon as you are ready. Mikaal, come with me.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she stood and walked out. Mikaal gave Areenna a shrug and followed his grandmother, leaving her alone for the first time since waking. Areenna sat in the bed, staring at the door. Everything that had happened seemed dreamlike.

  She left the bed, went to the window, and lifted Gaalrie into her arms. A heartbeat later, their minds melded and as Areenna drew on the warmth and closeness of her aoutem, her mind settled.

  She opened the window by pushing it on its pivot and gave Gaalrie the command to fly and hunt. Then, she turned to face the day ahead.

  <><><>

  “When plan you to leave?” King Ecorah asked after finishing his food.

  “Later this morning,” Mikaal answered for both of them. “We have lost time because of the storm.”

  Prince Darb looked at his nephew. “Only a short time.”

  Areenna nodded. “But valuable time. Every hour is important.” She studied Darb as she spoke. He was a duplicate of Enaid, a male version, handsome almost to a fault. Four years younger than his sister, his dark hair and pale eyes were the same as Enaid’s, and there was an aura of wisdom about him as well.

  Darb held Areenna’s eyes for another few seconds before nodding. “There is a way to gain back the hours you lose this morning.” He turned to his father. “With your permission, I would show them a shorter way to Farg, through the upper passage into Lokinhold.”

  When Ecorah nodded his permission, Darb turned back to Areenna and Mikaal. “When do you want to leave?”

  Before either could respond, Enna said, “I need time, a few hours with both of them. There are things… women’s work I must do.” She paused in thought. “Have their supplies filled and their kralets readied. You can leave by late morning.”

  “As you say,” Darb responded.

  Enna rose. “Come, there is not much time,” she said to Areenna and Mikaal.

  <><><>

  The sun was midway between its zenith and the horizon when Prince Darb pulled his kraal to a halt. “Follow this road for another two hours. You will come to a triple fork. Take the first road to the left. It leads directly to Farg. A half mile after the fork, there will be a stand of trees; three burnt white by lightning and. Turn there. A half mile into the woods you will find a safe place to camp within a small grove of gazebow trees.”

  Darb paused a moment in thought. “Be wary between here and Farg and throughout Lokinhold. There are renegade Free-Blades roaming the outer territories, pillaging the smaller settlements.”

  Mikaal studied his uncle. “Free-Blades pillaging? Why, when there is always employment at the dominions?”

  “They are turncoats from their own bands of mercenaries. They prefer raid
ing and looting to serving a dominion with honest work. But we have been controlling them so far.”

  “Has this been going on a while?” Areenna asked.

  Darb shook his head. “It started a few months ago. But it is not unheard of.”

  “I wonder,” Areenna began, but stopped.

  “Of what?” Darb pushed.

  “If it is connected to the darkness… to the dark circle.”

  “How could that be? They are but mercenaries.”

  Areenna exhaled slowly. “Believe it not, My Prince, just because these renegade blades are traitors to their own kind, does not mean they cannot be controlled by the Dark Ones.”

  “Listen to her, Uncle,” Mikaal cautioned.

  “Tell your mother of this,” Areenna added. “Tell her I ask she be wary.”

  Darb nodded. “As you say,” he said. “Now, be off with you. Stay watchful.”

  <><><>

  Mad shadows flickered on the sides and the ceiling of the huge cavern, buried within the Southern Palisades. The distorted shadows seemed to dance along the rocky walls, flickering in time with the vacillating flames while the deformed woman-thing danced about the fire, driving herself into a frenzied fugue.

  She turned and raced out of the cavern, running like a wobbly three-legged coor until she reached the very edge of the high palisade. There she stopped, her eyes staring upward at the sky, searching, searching, until at last she spotted the dark and misty messenger. Not a living thing, this flying bird-like apparition; rather, it was the embodiment of evil.

  It dropped lower, circled around the Black Witch, descending in a sheet of mist to envelope the sorceress within a bubble of vacillating darkness. Then, when it held her enclosed within, the sorceress opened her mind.

  Into the dark void of her mind came the words of her Master, loud and sharp, slicing through her like a keen edged sword until she stood trembling within the darkness. After a while, the mists fell away and the night returned.

  She staggered away from the ledge and back into the depths of her cavern where she sat near the fire and took in deep breaths. She began to laugh. The sound built to a fever pitch as she replayed her Master’s words.

  We travel across the waters. Be ready. I bring many with me. I want the girl and the boy. Find them, capture them, and we will take Nevaeh!

  She laughed again, the dry cackle echoing out from the cavern walls as she sent a thought. It took only a few seconds to find what she sought and knew exactly where the two were. Follow, stay hidden, she commanded.

  CHAPTER 10

  The fire glowed softly in the night. The scent of rabt clung to the air, although the meat was long gone. Areenna sat within the fire-lit circle, Mikaal to her left. The kraals grazed freely and Gaalrie had settled on the highest branch of a gazebow tree after hunting and eating her fill.

  While it should have been an easy and relaxing time, Areenna could not shake off the feeling of someone or something following them. It was the same sensation she’d gotten when leaving Tolemac and just before arriving in Apolis.

  What is it? Mikaal asked, sensing her unease.

  I don’t know. “A feeling,” she said aloud. “Something she sent follows us.”

  “But not near?”

  No, it tracks us only. Of that, I am sure, she responded. “Tell me, how did it go with your grandmother after I left you?”

  He gazed at the sky before saying, “It was strange. Not like when you and I join, not like with my mother, either. It is hard to explain. The training was difficult. She kept pressing me to feel for what would happen.”

  “And?”

  He shrugged. “Nothing happened at the beginning, but later she told me to concentrate on nothing. It was the hardest thing I have ever tried. How do you concentrate on nothing?”

  Areenna laughed. “I haven’t any idea.”

  “Neither did I, until I realized nothing itself is an impossible thought, so I focused on a color,” he said the last with a smile.

  Areenna sensed he was waiting for a question. “What color?”

  His smile grew wider as his eyes roamed her face. “The green of your eyes.”

  Her stomach twisted. “And?”

  “I answered my grandmother’s question before she asked it.”

  “Then you can call up this ability?”

  His smile faded. “Maybe, if needed, but I discovered this ability has its own way of working. It comes without asking… if there is danger.”

  Areenna’s brows knitted together. “How is this possible?”

  “I don’t know. What I do know is when I was leaving my grandmother’s chamber; she drew a knife and attacked me. I saw it happen before she drew the weapon and turned to face her. Her hand was on the knife.”

  Areenna gazed at him. “This is good. It will help keep you safe.”

  “I hope,” Mikaal said as Areenna gave in to a yawn.

  “I’m more tired than I thought,” she admitted.

  We should both get some sleep, Mikaal pushed to her. “I will check the kralets.”

  They stood and when Mikaal walked toward the kralets, Areenna called to Gaalrie, who rested on the high branches of the tree. Their minds joined and she accepted the warmth the cinnamon and silver bird showered upon her. Scout, hunt, be watchful, My Sister.

  Five minutes after Gaalrie left her roost, Mikaal secured the pack animals and said goodnight to Charka. Finally, he joined Areenna in the lean-to, where he slipped into his sleeping silks. “We should reach Farg by late afternoon tomorrow.”

  “We will be on schedule,” Areenna added. “Sleep gently,” she whispered as her eyes closed and sleep claimed her.

  <><><>

  Areenna was high in the heavens, flying gracefully above everything, as free as if she were Gaalrie. She knew she was dreaming, but reality held no bonds on her; she embraced the freedom of being aloft, of flying. An instant later, she saw dark storm clouds beneath her. In the next breath she was beneath the clouds of a mad storm, yet she was unaffected by the weather.

  Below her, the stormy waters of the ocean rose and fell while torrents of rain cascaded downward in slanting wind-driven sheets. She saw ships—ungainly and strange ships, long and box-like, sailing in a formation like birds flying south; their sails billowing under the strain of harsh winds, the ships rising and falling upon the waves. Powerful winds were pushing them toward their destination much faster than was natural.

  On the flagship stood a tall figure in the center of the bow, surrounded by a swirling mist, arms raised and palms facing skyward. His features, obscured by the mist, seemed unaffected by the rain, as if a bubble surrounded and protected the figure.

  Sounds came from his strangely shaped oval and almost round mouth yet she heard no words. Behind this figure stood hundreds of malformed beings with the shapes of men but so deformed as to be almost unrecognizable as such. Despite the storm-ravaged sea, the ships and those within them moved in a straight line. Fifteen hundred miles ahead rose the southwestern palisades of Nevaeh, their destination.

  Areenna descended toward the strange figure in the lead ship. As she neared it, a wave of rotting darkness swept over her, so evil, so vile, and so repugnant that even in her dream, she choked.

  Then she was above it, close to it. Yet, she could see no feature through the swirling mist, only that of the shape. She willed herself to see what stood there until she knew not only what it was, but its plans as well.

  She awoke that instant, sat up and hugged herself. She sucked in deep gulps of air in an effort to cast the dream vision from her mind, wanting only never to having seen it, for she knew exactly who the vileness was—one of the Masters of the Circle of Afzal. How she knew, she could not be sure, but know it she did.

  Lying back, her breathing calmed while she listened to the soothing sound of Mikaal’s steady breathing, grateful for not having woken him. She would tell him in the morning, but for now, she needed to work the dream vision, replay it until she understood the full mea
ning of what she had seen.

  Only after she relived the vision again, and slowly came to the full understanding of its meaning, was she able to fall into a restless sleep.

  <><><>

  Mikaal watched Areenna emerge from the woods. When she walked toward him, he sensed a change about her. Something had happened during the night, of what he could not ascertain. He tightened the cinch on the last kralet and went to meet Areenna near the dying embers of the fire.

  Two small bowls rested on the ground. Two cups were set next to them. Tendrils of steam from the tea rose in the cold air of the morning. “Fruit and tea,” he said as she approached. Her long pale hair was untied and hung below her shoulders. She wore a leather tunic with leggings. Tall boots graced her feet. However, when he stared into the green pools of her eyes, he knew something had changed.

  “What is it?” he asked, handing her a cup of the hot dark tea.

  She took the cup in both hands, raised it to scent the drink and blew across its surface. She took a sip before saying, “A dream… a vision. They are coming. They will be here soon.”

  “A foretelling? Who?”

  “Not a foretelling, a vision within a dream. A Dark Master. He comes with hundreds, maybe thousands of his slaves. He comes to begin war. He comes to destroy us.”

  “You are certain?”

  Areenna nodded. “I don’t know when, but they are on the sea. He is… evil.”

  “Sit, eat, and tell me what you saw.” She spoke, taking small bites of fruit as she did.

  When both the fruit and her story were finished, Mikaal said, “We must warn them.”

  Areenna closed her eyes and began to seek. High above them, near the top of a tall gazebow tree she found a family of craves. The male was standing guard while the female fed her chicks. She reached out to the male—perhaps an eighth the size of Gaalrie—and sent a gentle request. A few seconds later, the bird dropped to the ground before Areenna.

  She smiled at the silver-tinged white bird, drew a small piece of cloth from her pocket and, in the manner she had been trained, wrote a message on the cloth and tied it to its leg. She reached out with her mind, seeking a sense of where Enaid was and a moment later, sent the crave to her.